![Two special edition swipe cards for Taiwan's mass transit system feature Japanese porn star Yui Hatano, who is said to be keen to rebuild her image. Photo: Central News Agency/AP Two special edition swipe cards for Taiwan's mass transit system feature Japanese porn star Yui Hatano, who is said to be keen to rebuild her image. Photo: Central News Agency/AP](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/94454545-1752-4eec-86eb-3deafd3a0817.jpg/r0_0_729_409_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Sex sells.
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Just ask Taiwan's transit authority officials — or, better yet, any young man on the streets of the capital, Taipei. By this morning, chances are that he was clutching a metro swipe card that featured the sultry visage of Yui Hatano.
She's Japanese. She's 27. And she's a porn star.
She's also at the centre of the biggest controversy Taiwan has experienced in weeks, if not months. Parents, women's groups and politicians all mounted a fierce campaign against the special-edition cards, arguing that they demean women and send the wrong message to children. Under pressure, merchants refused to sell the cards — which also can be used on buses and at convenience stores — forcing the cards' issuer to sell them through a telephone hotline.
None of that mattered. At midnight on Monday, the phones started lighting up. Four hours later, the entire run of 15,000 two-card sets had been sold, each for about $22. The precise time of the last set sold: 4.18am on Tuesday.
But before we explain how all this happened, let us clear up one question that is probably looming large in your minds:
Is Hatano posing, well, as she would in one of her films?
Nope. She is fully clothed on these cards.
She is sporting a lingerie-like white top on the black-coloured card of the set. It is inscribed with the word "Angels". On the white card, she is wearing a black top. It reads "Demons". In both, she sports a look that some might describe as seductive. In Taiwan, many have called it "lewd".
This is how a spokeswoman for the EasyCard Corp, which is 40 per cent-owned by the Taipei government, described her last week as she defended the company's decision to put Hatano's images on the cards.
The photos conveyed a "fresh, healthy and beautiful" image, Lin Hsiao-chi said, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.
"This set of cards is suitable to put in your wallet and collect," Ms Lin said. "When you look at it, it will cheer you up."
So, how did Hatano end up being the face of Taiwan's metro cards?
It all apparently began with a simple demand from Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je. He reportedly asked the chairman of EasyCard to double the company's business. And the mayor didn't learn about the decision to enlist Hatano until local reporters asked about it at a community meeting, according to the Central News Agency.
Part of the cards' proceeds were to be given to charity, and that is what attracted Hatano. The porn star was seeking to rebuild her image, Ms Lin said, and so she readily accepted the invitation to be featured on the cards.
The choice of Hatano, although it did not sit well with many Taiwanese, was not entirely surprising. Japanese cultural icons are extremely popular in Taiwan. More than 3 million Taiwanese visited Japan last year, more than tourists from any other nation.
Hatano's fans cared little about the uproar. Some set up a Facebook page called "Purchase Yui Hatano EasyCards," which drew 47,000 followers. By Monday night, there were nearly 1700 messages, according to the Central News Agency.
"This was the first time I wanted to contribute to charity this much, but not even a single phone call got through," one fan wrote on the page.
Despite the commercial success, it is unlikely that Hatano's face — or that of any other porn star — will grace a Taiwanese metro swipe card again. In a statement, EasyCard apologised for the controversy and pledged an internal review of the decision.
No doubt, the cards featuring Hatano will become collectors' items.
Washington Post